Marion Bowman Jr. was executed by lethal injection in South Carolina on Friday, becoming the first execution in the United States this year.
Bowman, who was pronounced dead at 6:27 p.m., was on Death Row for the 2001 murder of 21-year-old Kandee Martin, a young mother who was killed five days before her son turned two. Martin’s bullet-ridden body was discovered in the trunk of her own burned-out car.
Bowman described Martin as a long-time friend and sometimes sexual partner, and while he admitted to selling crack cocaine to her, he always denied being responsible for her murder.
“I didn’t kill Kandee Martin. Bowman stated in his final words, which were released by his legal team, that he is innocent of the crimes for which he is being executed. Nonetheless, he stated that Martin’s family is distraught and “justifiably angry.”
“If my death brings them some relief and ability to focus on the good times and funny stories, then I guess it will have served a purpose,” according to him. “I hope they find peace.”
Martin’s family, meanwhile, told USA TODAY that they had been counting down the minutes until the execution in the hopes that it would bring them closure.
“He’s had 24 years to find God and tie up his loose ends,” Dr. Martin said. “We never had that opportunity. Kandee’s remains are buried in a coffin.
Marion Bowman’s last words
Bowman used some of his final words to highlight the death penalty and how society perceives people on Death Row, claiming they are “labeled as the worst of the worst.”
“None of these guys that I have gotten to know and grown to love are the people that they were when they had their moment that cost them everything,” he told me. “If the world could see us in our daily lives, they would have a different perspective on the death penalty.”
We all pray for grace and forgiveness, but the outside world sees images of monsters perpetrated by the State, and our true voices are silenced.”
He concluded by saying, “We are not who the state portrays us to be. We are kind, caring, and loving people, and it is a shame the rest of the world cannot see it.”
Marion Bowman’s last meal
Bowman’s last meal included fried shrimp, fish, and oysters, chicken wings, chicken tenders, onion rings, banana pudding, and German chocolate cake. He drank both pineapple and cranberry juice.
What was Marion Bowman convicted of?
A jury found Bowman guilty of murdering Martin, whom he described as a longtime friend and occasionally sexual partner who purchased crack cocaine from him. Prosecutors claimed Martin owed Bowman money for drugs and cited several witnesses who said they overheard him swearing to kill the young woman.
On February 17, 2001, police discovered Martin’s body. She was shot once in the chest and once in the head on a dark country road. According to court records, her killer placed her body in the trunk of her car and set fire to it.
Bowman, who was 20 years old at the time of her death, stated that he sold Martin drugs multiple times that day, but she later purchased them on credit. He claimed the two had sex and then saw her drive away in her car with his cousin, also a dealer.
That cousin became the star witness in Bowman’s murder trial as part of a plea deal with prosecutors in exchange for a reduced sentence. Bowman claims that jurors never learned that his cousin confessed to killing Martin to a cellmate, and that prosecutors ignored evidence pointing to his cousin’s and another man’s guilt.
“I have done some things in life that I regret,” Bowman wrote. “I regret my role in dealing with Kandee, and I am aware that her addiction most likely contributed to her death.” But I didn’t do this.
Who was Kandee Martin?
Kandee, the daughter of a rebar contractor and a stay-at-home mother, grew up in Branchville, a small town in rural South Carolina located halfway between Charleston and Columbia. The town had few job opportunities and was so small that Martin recalls her graduating high school having only 21 students.
Kandee desired more and frequently discussed moving to Charleston to pursue a career.
“She was a small town girl whose dream was to get out of the small town and just make something of her life,” Martin recalled.”
Before Kandee could leave Branchville, she became pregnant with a baby boy, which was both an unexpected and welcome blessing. “She went from being just a young single girl to being someone’s mom, and to her, that was the coolest thing ever,” explained Martin.
“When I close my I eyes, I can still hear those two giggling with each other,” Martin informed me.
What execution method was used?
Bowman died from a lethal injection of pentobarbital.
Bowman’s attorneys had argued that the drug was shrouded in “veil of secrecy,” claiming in court documents that the state had refused to provide basic information such as the pentobarbital’s expiration date and storage method.
They also questioned the drug’s purity and quality after South Carolina inmate Richard Moore received a second dose 11 minutes into his execution in November.
The state argued in court filings that Bowman had the option of being executed by firing squad or electric chair, but he chose lethal injection for Martin’s “gruesome murder.”
Lindsey Vann, one of Bowman’s attorneys, stated that he chose lethal injection despite the unanswered questions because the firing squad and electric chair are “barbaric and unconstitutional.” If Bowman had not chosen one of the three options, the electric chair would have been used by default.
More about Marion Bowman
Bowman grew up in a rural area of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, approximately halfway between Charleston and Columbia.
Bowman had an absent father and his mother became ill when he was a teenager, making him the man of the house, Vann told USA TODAY. “He’s just a really loyal person from his earliest years, and unfortunately, that got him into the drug trade in the area,” she told me.
“My family was poor, but we got by,” Bowman recently wrote in an online testimonial. “I did not complete high school. I worked some manual labor jobs but couldn’t make ends meet.
So he began selling crack cocaine, initially to support his mother and sister, and later his wife and stepchildren, according to Vann.
After Bowman was imprisoned, his wife gave birth to the couple’s baby daughter, who has since had her own baby daughter, making Bowman a grandfather. He also considers his three step grand children to be his own. Despite the circumstances, he claims they are all close.
Vann said Bowman matured in prison, developed a deep faith in God, and became a writer, writing poems such as “While I Breathe I Hope” and a new one called “Last Breath or Sigh,” which was released Friday after his death.
The new poem includes the lines: “Let there be no mistaking − I’ve felt love with every breath I’ve taken…” Know that I am in God’s grasp, and I will rest in His bosom.
